The Pirate Bay has today denounced the Anonymous collective's attack on Virgin Media, which appears to have been carried out in support of the link-hosting site.

(Credit: The Pirate Bay)

UK ISP Virgin Media has been blasted off the internet following a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack allegedly made by hacktivist group Anonymous, in retaliation for the ISP's blockade on the Pirate Bay. But the Pirate Bay has spoken out against the attack, stating that it does not condone this course of action, and sees the attack as a form of censorship.

"We believe in the open and free internets, where anyone can express their views. Even if we strongly disagree with them and even if they hate us," the Pirate Bay wrote on its Facebook page.

"Don't fight them using their ugly methods. DDoS and blocks are both forms of censorship."

The group said that if users really want to show their support, they should take more constructive measures, such as starting their own trackers, teaching others about BitTorrent, writing to their local political parties or, failing that, "just be a nice person and give your mum a call to tell her you love her".

Virgin Media itself has claimed that its hands are tied on the blockade, with the company explaining on its forums that it had been forced to block the Pirate Bay via a court order.

"We, alongside other ISPs in the UK, are now legally obliged to block access to this site," a spokesperson for Virgin Media wrote at the time the block was being introduced.

"As a responsible ISP, we comply with court orders addressed to our company, but we strongly believe that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives."

The Pirate Bay's message appears to not to have reached those conducting the attacks, or has been ignored, with Virgin Media's site still offline this morning.